1860s-1890s The Saud family moved to exile in
Kuwait when the Ottoman Empire conquered much of Arabia.
(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)

1913 The boundary between Iraq
and Kuwait was defined.
(SFC, 2/24/98, p.A9)

1915 In Kuwait Sheikh Mubarak
died. Kuwait’s rule later alternated between the 2 branches of the
al-Sabah family, the al-Salem and the al-Jaber lines, after the 2
sons of Mubarak.
(Econ, 1/21/06, p.47)

1962 Nov, Kuwait approved a new
constitution and became the first Arab state in the Gulf to
establish an elected legislature.
(AP,
9/11/11)(www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/gulf/kuwait-legislature.htm)

1962 Kuwait passed a law
requiring women to get their husband's signature to obtain a
passport.
(AP, 10/21/09)

1963 Jan 29, Kuwait’s
constitution came into force as the new National Assembly convened.
but only a select few were eligible to vote. Power rested with the
royal family.
(www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/gulf/kuwait-legislature.htm)(Econ,
7/8/06, p.40)

1963 Iraq renounced its claim
laid to Kuwait.
(SFC, 2/24/98, p.A9)

1973 Oct 16, OPEC, the Arab
oil-producing nations, announced they would begin cutting back on
oil exports to Western nations and Japan. The next day, the five
Arab members of the OPEC committee were joined in Kuwait by the oil
ministers of Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, and Syria. The result
was a total embargo that lasted until March 1974 and caused oil
prices to quadruple.
(www.harvardir.org/articles/1659/)(AP,
10/17/97)(WSJ, 7/28/03, p.A8)

1973 In Kuwait Law No. 14
established the Constitutional Court, which has exclusive
jurisdiction to interpret the constitutionality of legislation and
is empowered to review electoral contestations. The Court is
comprised of five members who are chosen by the Judicial Council.
(www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/gulf/kuwait-legislature.htm)

1981 May 25, Sheik Zayed bin
Sultan Al Nahyan (1918-2004), United Arab Emirates President, urged
in 5 other Arab monarchies (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi
Arabia) to form the Gulf Cooperation Council. The unified economic
agreement between the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council was
signed on 11 November 1981 in Riyadh.
(Econ, 11/20/04,
p.90)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_Cooperation_Council)

1982 Aug, In Kuwait the
official Souk al-Manakh (camel market) collapsed erasing $94 billion
in paper wealth overnight. The crash prompted a recession that
rippled through society as individual families were disrupted by the
investment risks of particular members made on family credit.
(Econ, 12/5/09,
p.81)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Souk_Al-Manakh_stock_market_crash)

1983 Dec 12, A truck bomb
exploded at the US Embassy in Kuwait. Shiite Muslims backed by Iran
drove bomb-laden trucks into six targets. The most deadly of these
struck the US Embassy, killing five persons and wounding 62. Other
trucks destroyed the French embassy and several Kuwaiti
installations (www.danielpipes.org/article/173).
(WSJ, 4/28/05, p.A1)

1984 Dec 4, A five-day hijack
drama began as four armed men seized a Kuwaiti airliner en route to
Pakistan and forced it to land in Tehran, where the hijackers killed
American passenger Charles Hegna.
(AP, 12/4/04)

1984 Dec 9, In Iran a five-day
hijack drama ended when Iranian commandos captured the Kuwaiti
plane. 4 armed men had seized a Kuwaiti airliner en route to
Pakistan and forced it to land in Tehran, where the hijackers killed
American passenger Charles Hegna.
(AP, 12/4/04)

1984 Gulf Cooperation Council
(GCC) members (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, UAR)
agreed on the creation of a two-brigade (10,000 troops) Peninsula
Shield Force, based in Saudi Arabia near the Kuwaiti and Iraqi
borders.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peninsula_Shield)

1987 Mar 23, US offered
military protection to Kuwaiti ships in the Persian Gulf.
(SS, 3/23/02)

1987 Jul 22, The United States
began its policy of escorting re-flagged Kuwaiti tankers up and down
the Persian Gulf to protect them from possible attack by Iran.
(AP, 7/22/97)

1987 Aug 11, Britain and
France ordered minesweepers to the Persian Gulf, but said they would
not be used in combined operations with the United States as it
escorted reflagged Kuwaiti ships.
(AP, 8/11/97)

1987 Aug 22, The supertanker
Bridgeton and three other reflagged Kuwaiti tankers left Kuwait
under U.S. escort and safely cleared Persian Gulf waters where the
Bridgeton had hit a mine the month before.
(AP, 8/22/97)

1987 Oct 16, In the Persian
Gulf, an Iranian missile hit a re-flagged Kuwaiti ship in the first
direct attack on the tanker fleet guarded by the U.S.
(AP, 10/16/97)

1987 Oct, The British
government sold the last of its shares in British Petroleum,
allowing the company to finally be completely privatized for the
first time in 73 years. The Kuwaiti government bought 22% of British
Petroleum’s total shares while the price was low, but the deal was
opposed by PM Margaret Thatcher. This forced the Kuwaitis so sell
over half their stake. Eventually British Petroleum bought back
nearly 400 million of the Kuwaiti shares and cancelled them.
(http://www.conservapedia.com/BP)(Econ, 1/19/08,
p.80)

1987 The emir of Kuwait
dissolved parliament.
(SFEC, 7/4/99, p.A20)

1988 Apr 5 A 15-day hijacking
ordeal began as gunmen forced a Kuwait Airways jumbo jet to land in
Iran.
(AP, 5/5/97)

1988 A cease-fire was declared
between Iraq and Iran. Iraq re-asserted its claim to Kuwait.
(SFC, 2/24/98, p.A9)

1990 Jul 24, Iraq, accusing
Kuwait of conspiring to harm its economy through oil overproduction,
massed tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of tanks along the
Iraqi-Kuwaiti border. US warships in Persian Gulf were placed on
alert.
(AP, 7/24/00)

1990 Aug 2, Iraq invaded
Kuwait, seizing control of the oil-rich emirate. The day came to be
known in Kuwait as “Black Thursday." 330 Kuwaitis died during the
occupation and war. Sadam Hussein, leader of Iraq, took over Kuwait.
G. Bush led an inter-national coalition for sanctions and a demand
for withdrawal. The Iraqis were later driven out in Operation Desert
Storm.
(SFC, 9/4/96, p.A8)(TMC, 1994, p.1990)(AP,
8/2/97)(SFEC, 7/30/00, p.C18)
1990 Aug 2, By a vote of 14-0,
the United Nations Security Council condemned the invasion and
annexation of Kuwait by Iraq and demanded in Resolution 660 the
unconditional withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait.
(HNQ, 5/27/99)
1990 Aug 2, Yasser Arafat
supported Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. This resulted in the PLO’s
isolation.
(SFC, 11/11/04, p.A18)

1990 Aug 3, US announced the
commitment of Naval forces to Gulf regions.
(SC, 8/3/02)
1990 Aug 3, Radio Kuwait went
off the air due to the Iraqi invasion.
(SC, 8/3/02)

1990 Aug 5, An angry President
Bush again denounced the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, telling
reporters, “This will not stand. This will not stand, this
aggression against Kuwait."
(AP, 8/5/00)

1990 Aug 7, President Bush
ordered U.S. troops and warplanes to Saudi Arabia to guard the
oil-rich desert kingdom against a possible invasion by Iraq. The US
Persian Gulf War began. Operation Desert Shield ended Feb 28, 1991.
It cost $8.1 billion and left 383 US casualties with 458 wounded.
(AP, 8/7/99)(WSJ, 9/22/99, p.A8)(MC, 8/7/02)

1990 Aug 8, As the Persian Gulf
crisis deepened, American forces began taking up positions in Saudi
Arabia; Iraq announced it had annexed Kuwait as its 19th province;
President Bush warned Iraqi President Saddam Hussein that “a line
has been drawn in the sand."
(AP, 8/8/00)(MC, 8/8/02)

1990 Aug 26, Fifty-five
Americans, who had been evacuated from the US Embassy in Kuwait,
left Baghdad by car and headed for the Turkish border.
(AP, 8/26/00)

1990 Aug 28, Iraq declared
occupied Kuwait the 19th province of Iraq, renamed Kuwait City
Kadhima, and created a new district named after President Saddam
Hussein. A puppet regime under Alaa Hussein was set up. Alaa Hussein
was convicted of treason in 2000 and sentenced to death. Saddam
Hussein, saying he sympathized with his foreign captives, pledged to
free detained women and children.
(RTH, 8/28/99)(SFC, 5/4/00, p.A18)(AP, 8/28/00)

1990 Sep 13, The UN Security
Council at its 2939th meeting adopted Resolution 666, regarding
foodstuffs to be supplied to the civilian population in Iraq or
Kuwait in order to relieve human suffering.
(www.caabu.org/press/documents/unscr-resolution-666.html)

1990 Sep 27, The deposed emir
of Kuwait delivered an emotional address to the UN General Assembly
in which he denounced the “rape, destruction and terror" inflicted
upon his country by Iraq.
(AP, 9/27/00)

1990 Sep 28, The exiled emir of
Kuwait visited the White House, where he told President Bush the
Iraqis were destroying and looting his country.
(AP, 9/28/00)

1990 Oct 3, Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein made his first known visit to Kuwait since his
country seized control of the oil-rich emirate.
(AP, 10/3/00)

1990 Oct 13, At the start of a
three-day conference in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, the crown prince of
Kuwait promised greater democracy for the emirate if it were freed
from Iraqi occupation.
(AP, 10/13/00)

1990 Nov 29, The UN Security
Council, led by the United States, voted 12-to-two to authorize
military action if Iraq did not withdraw its troops from Kuwait and
release all foreign hostages by January 15th, 1991.
(AP, 11/29/00)

1990 Dec 11, Hundreds of
foreigners flew out of Iraq and Iraqi-occupied Kuwait, ending four
months of captivity following Iraq’s invasion of its oil-rich
neighbor.
(AP, 12/11/00)

1990 Dec 17, President Bush
pledged “no negotiation for one inch" of Kuwaiti territory would
take place as he repeated his demand for Iraq’s complete withdrawal.
(AP, 12/17/00)

1990 Dec 18, Less than a month
before a UN deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait, President
Bush told reporters he believed Americans would support a military
strike, if one proved necessary. In Baghdad, the ruling
Revolutionary Command Council said Iraq was “ready for the decisive
showdown."
(AP, 12/18/00)

1990 Yemen’s refusal to endorse
military action against Iraq after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait so
annoyed the governments of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait that they
expelled a million Yemeni migrant workers, costing the country huge
sums in remittances.
(Econ, 7/23/11, p.45)

1991 Jan 9, Secretary of State
James A. Baker the Third and Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz met
for six hours in Geneva, but failed to resolve the Persian Gulf
crisis. President Bush, in Washington, accused Iraq of "a total
stiff-arm, a total rebuff." Mr. Baker told Mr. Aziz that America
would throw Iraq out by force if it did not leave
Kuwait.
(AP, 1/9/01)(Econ, 5/24/08, p.19)

1991 Jan 16, The White House
announced the start of Operation Desert Storm to drive Iraqi forces
out of Kuwait. President Bush said in a nationally broadcast address
“the battle has been joined" as fighter bombers pounded Iraqi
targets. Because of the time difference, it was early January 17th
in the Persian Gulf when the attack began. At 4:30 P.M. EST, the
first fighter aircraft are launched from Saudi Arabia and off of
U.S. and British aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf on bombing
missions over Iraq.
(AP, 1/16/01)(MC, 1/16/02)

1991 Jan 17, The Persian Gulf
War began as Coalition planes struck targets in Iraq and Kuwait. The
first Iraqi Scud missile attacks on Israel were launched. There were
reports of death and injury, and possibly even chemical weapons
being used. For a few tense hours, it looked as though Israel would
retaliate against Iraq, causing the allied coalition to break up.
Six months of preparation and diplomacy might be undone by a few
poorly aimed, 1950s-vintage ballistic missiles. Later that evening,
U.S. Patriot surface-to-air missiles were launched against the
incoming Scuds, and for the first time in history, a ballistic
missile was shot down by another missile. The use of Patriot
missiles in Israel’s defense helped to keep that country out of the
Gulf War, thereby safeguarding the integrity of the
American-European-Arab coalition. Jeffrey Zahn became the 1st US
pilot shot down. Lt. Cmdr. Michael Scott Speicher (33) was shot down
over western Iraq. In 1993 the ruins of his plane were found. In
2009 his remains were found and positively identified.
(SFC, 9/4/96, p.A8)(SFEC,12/797, p.A1,16)(HN,
1/17/99)(AP, 8/2/09)
1991 Jan 17, On the first day
of Operation Desert Storm, US-led forces hammered Iraqi targets in
an effort to drive Iraq out of Kuwait. A defiant Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein declared that the “mother of all battles" had begun.
Iraq attacked Israel with ten Scud missiles. The US Patriot defense
missile was used in battle for the first time to shoot down a Scud
fired at Saudi Arabia.
(AP, 1/17/01)

1991 Jan 25, During the Gulf
War Iraq sabotaged Kuwait’s main supertanker loading pier, dumping
an estimated 460 million gallons of crude oil into the Persian Gulf.
Missiles fired from western Iraq struck in the Tel Aviv and Haifa
areas, killing one Israeli and injuring more than 40 others.
(AP, 1/25/01)(SFC, 11/20/02, p.A14)

1991 Feb 22, The US invaded
Kuwait in the Gulf War Desert Storm and quickly chased out the Iraqi
forces. US soldiers may have been exposed to minute amounts of the
nerve gas agent called Substance 33. Russia had developed the
Novichok family of nerve gases that were designed to be undetectable
by American instruments and they may have been in Iraqi hands at
this time. Gen. Anatoly Diamianovich Kuntsevich was in charge of the
secret development of the gases and post-Soviet disarmament and the
information about the battlefield sensors was revealed by former
Soviet scientist Vil Mirzayanov. Their stories agree.
(TMC, 1994, p.1991) (WSJ, 4/30/96, p.A-14)

1991 Feb 24, The United States
and its Gulf War allies launched a large-scale ground assault
against Iraqi troops, many of whom surrendered to the advancing
forces. General Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of the coalition army,
sent in ground forces to liberate Kuwait from the Iraqis.
(HN, 2/24/98)(AP, 2/24/01)

1991 Feb 26, Allied troops took
control of Kuwait after a 100-hour ground war. It was later reported
that high concentrations of US armor-piercing depleted uranium
shells were detonated in Iraq and Kuwait.
(SFC, 9/4/96, p.A8)(SFC, 11/24/98, p.A4)
1991 Feb 26, Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein announced on Baghdad Radio that he had ordered his
forces to withdraw from Kuwait.
(AP, 2/26/98)
1991 Feb 26, In Iraq an
American armored unit of 9 tanks and 12 Bradley fighting vehicles
destroyed 28 Iraqi tanks, 16 armored vehicles, and 39 trucks without
a single loss in the Battle of 73 Easting.
(Econ, 3/3/12,
TQp.10)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_73_Easting)

1991 Feb 27, President Bush
declared that “Kuwait is liberated, Iraq’s army is defeated," and
announced that the allies would suspend combat operations at
midnight. General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, the US commander in the
Gulf, briefed reporters in detail on the successful allied
offensive. Coalition forces liberated Kuwait after seven months of
occupation by the Iraqi army.
(SFC, 2/24/98, p.A9)(HN, 2/27/99)(AP, 2/27/01)

1991 Feb 28, Pres. Bush
announced a cease-fire in Kuwait. Allied and Iraqi forces suspended
their attacks as Iraq pledged to accept all United Nations
resolutions concerning Kuwait. In 1998 George Bush co-wrote "A World
Transformed" with Brent Scowcroft, his national security advisor.
The book was a dialogue about the foreign policy problems face by
the US during the Bush administration (1988-1992). In 1995 Michael
Gordon and Bernard Trainor published "The General's War: The Inside
Story of the Conflict in the Gulf."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Gulf_War)(SFC, 9/4/96,
p.A8)(SFC, 5/4/99, p.D1)(AP, 2/28/01)

1991 Mar 2, Following the
Kuwait cease-fire a retreating Iraqi unit stumbled into the Gen.
McCaffrey’s 24th infantry division and some 400 Iraqis were reported
killed. Army investigations concluded that the Iraqis started the
Rumaylah battle.
(SFC, 5/15/00, p.A3)(WSJ, 5/19/00,
p.A38)(www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYqoaT0RTFU)

1991 Mar 5, Iraq repealed its
annexation of Kuwait. The Iraqis turned over 35 prisoners of war,
including 15 Americans, to the Red Cross. An anti-Saddam Hussein
uprising was reported sweeping city after city in Iraq.
(AP, 3/5/01)

1991 May 19, Martial-law courts
in Kuwait began trying people accused of collaborating with Iraqi
occupation forces, sentencing one man to life in prison for wearing
a Saddam Hussein T-shirt. (The trials came under international
criticism, and were halted.).
(DT internet 5/19/97)

1991 Mar 24, In liberated
Kuwait, banks reopened for the first time since Iraqi troops had
shut them down the previous December.
(AP, 3/24/01)

1991 May 19, Martial-law courts
in Kuwait began trying people accused of collaborating with Iraqi
occupation forces, sentencing one man to life in prison for wearing
a Saddam Hussein T-shirt. The trials came under international
criticism, and were halted.
(AP, 5/19/01)

1991 Aug, American soldiers
detected mustard agent from their Fox mobile chemical-detection
laboratory in a large metal tank in Kuwait that was probably left
behind by retreating Iraqi forces.
(SFC, 12/11/96, p.A1)

1991 The US scattered some
118,000 land mines in Iraq and Kuwait during the Gulf War.
(WSJ, 1/19/02, p.A1)
1991 Yugoslavia exported 149
M-84 tanks to Kuwait. They were assembled in Croatia from components
made throughout Yugoslavia.
(Econ, 1/8/11, p.52)

1992 Parliament was restored
under western pressure.
(SFEC, 7/4/99, p.A20)

1993 Apr 13, The day before a
visit by Pres. Bush, fourteen people were arrested in Kuwait for
plotting to assassinate him. Washington said the plot was organized
by Iraqi intelligence.
(SFC, 9/4/96, p.A8)

1994 Nov 10, Iraq, hoping to
win an end to trade sanctions, recognized the independence and
boundaries of Kuwait.
(SFC, 2/24/98, p.A9)(AP, 11/10/99)

1996 Sep 16, Kuwait agreed to
allow the US to send 3,300 troops to its soil over the confrontation
with Iraq.
(SFC, 9/17/96, p.A10)

1998 Jun 13, It was reported
that the Old World Screwworm had broken out in Iraq, Kuwait and
Bahrain. 19 people were reported infected by the disease in which
carnivorous larvae hatch from eggs laid in broken skin.
(SFC, 6/13/98, p.A7)

1999 May 16, In Kuwait the
Cabinet voted to give women the right to vote in the 2003 general
elections.
(SFC, 5/17/99, p.A12)

1999 Jul 3, In Kuwait elections
were held for seats in the 50-member parliament. Only some 113,000
men of the 1.8 million population were allowed to vote. Liberals
raised their number of seats from 4 to 14.
(SFEC, 7/4/99, p.A20)(SFC, 7/5/99, p.A12)

1999 Nov 30, In Kuwait the
Parliament rejected a bill that would have allowed women to vote by
a vote of 32-30. Only men over 21, who had held Kuwaiti nationality
for 20 years, were allowed to vote or run for office.
(SFC, 12/1/99, p.C5)

1999 Dec 10, In Kuwait a US
airmen was instantly killed when an Air Force C-130 transport landed
short of the runway at Al Jaber Air Base. The plane regained
altitude, dumped fuel and made an emergency belly landing following
which 2 more airmen were killed. The pilot was charged with
involuntary manslaughter for killing three servicemen by crashing
the plane.
(www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/ahmed-al-jaber.htm)(http://tinyurl.com/2sebsu)

2000 Jun 25, In Kuwait a
refinery explosion at the Mina al-Ahmedi plant killed 5 people and
closed the largest of the 3 oil processing facilities.
(WSJ, 6/26/00, p.A1)(WSJ, 6/28/00, p.A1)

2002 Sep 28, Kuwait closed its
last fiscal year with a $1.94 billion surplus, the National Bank of
Kuwait reported.
(AP, 9/28/02)

2002 Oct 8, Two Kuwaitis opened
fire on U.S. troops on a military exercise on a Kuwait’s Failaka
Island in the Persian Gulf, fatally wounding a Marine in what the
Interior Ministry called a "terrorist" attack.
(AP, 10/8/02)(SFC, 10/9/02, p.A1)

2002 Oct 12, Kuwait's interior
minister said that 15 Kuwaitis in police custody had confessed to a
deadly attack on U.S. Marines, but that no firm link has been
established between them and al-Qaida.
(AP, 10/12/02)

2003 Mar 29, A low-flying Iraqi
missile avoided the detection of US defense systems and landed just
off the coast of Kuwait City, shattering windows at the seaside Souq
Sharq shopping mall.
(AP, 3/29/03)(SFC, 3/29/03, p.W5)

2003 Jul 5, In Kuwait Islamists
and supporters of the royal-led Cabinet kept their grip the all-male
parliament in elections, while liberals urging voting rights for
women suffered major losses.
(AP, 7/6/03)

2003 Jul 13, Kuwait's emir,
Sheik Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah (76), appointed his brother as prime
minister, separating the post from the crown prince for the first
time in a move seen as a step toward political reform.
(AP, 7/13/03)

2005 Jan 10, In Kuwait a
shootout killed two policeman and a suspect they were chasing in a
suburb of the capital.
(AP, 1/10/05)

2005 Jan 15, Police and
militants fought a gun battle in a small Kuwaiti town near a US
military logistics center, leaving one Saudi gunman dead and two
policemen wounded.
(AP, 1/15/05)

2005 Jan 16, The first Kuwaiti
released from Guantanamo Bay was taken into government custody after
he arrived home.
(AP, 1/16/05)

2005 Jan 30, Kuwaiti security
forces stormed a building in a residential part of the capital and
exchanged gunfire with suspected terrorists, killing one suspect in
a battle that also left a security officer and a bystander dead.
(AP, 1/30/05)

2005 Jan 31, Kuwaiti police
stormed several suspected terror hideouts, arresting a reputed
terror leader and sparking a gunbattle that killed five people,
including four of his followers.
(AP, 1/31/05)

2005 Feb 5, Kuwaiti police and
troops in armored personnel carriers used explosives to blast their
way into a concrete block home in Sulaibiyah capturing 5 suspected
terrorists.
(AP, 2/5/05)

2005 Feb 8, In Kuwait Amer
Khlaif al-Enezi, the alleged ringleader of a terror group accused of
plotting to attack Americans and Kuwaiti security forces, died of
heart failure while in prison.
(AP, 2/9/05)

2005 Mar 10, The UN panel
overseeing compensation for victims of Iraq's 1990 invasion of
Kuwait approved new awards worth $265 million, mostly to families of
people who died in Iraqi detention.
(AP, 3/11/05)

2005 Mar, Kuwait based MTC
agreed to pay nearly $3.4 billion for Amsterdam-based Celtel Int’l.,
founded by Mo Ibrahim, who stood to make $700 million by selling his
one-fifth stake. Celtel had 5 million customers spread across 13
African countries.
(Econ, 4/2/05, p.58)

2005 Apr 19, In Kuwait
lawmakers agreed to permit women to vote and run in local council
elections, although the measure requires more legislative action
before it becomes law.
(AP, 4/19/05)

2005 May 2, In Kuwait a push to
allow women to participate in local elections stalled when Islamist
and conservative lawmakers abstained en masse from a key vote in
parliament, leaving the measure undefeated but short of the number
of votes needed for passage.
(AP, 5/2/05)

2005 May 3, Kuwait’s Parliament
created a constitutional roadblock that effectively kept women out
of this year’s race for municipal council seats.
(SFC, 5/4/05, p.A3)

2005 May 16, The Kuwait
Parliament extended political rights to women, but religious
fundamentalists who opposed women's suffrage succeeded in attaching
a clause requiring future female politicians and voters to abide by
Islamic law.
(AP, 5/16/05)

2005 Jun 5, Kuwait named two
women to public office for the first time, less than a month after
parliament passed a historic law granting women the right to vote
and run for office.
(AP, 6/5/05)

2005 Jun 12, Kuwait state TV
reported that the Kuwaiti government has appointed its first female
Cabinet minister, a month after lawmakers in this oil-rich nation
granted women the right to vote and run for office. Massouma
al-Mubarak (54), a women's rights activist and columnist, was given
the planning and administrative development portfolios.
(AP, 6/12/05)

2005 Jun 20, Massouma
al-Mubarak, Kuwait's first female Cabinet member, took the oath of
office over the shouts of Muslim fundamentalist and tribal lawmakers
opposed to women in politics.
(AP, 6/20/06)

2005 Jun 30, The UN panel
overseeing compensation for victims of Iraq's 1990 invasion of
Kuwait approved its final claims, bringing the total award to $52.5
billion.
(AP, 6/30/05)

2005 Sep 4, The oil-rich
Persian Gulf state of Kuwait said it will donate $500 million in aid
to U.S. relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina.
(AP, 9/4/05)

2005 Nov 10, A senior official
said Kuwait has detected two cases of bird flu in birds but it was
not clear if the virus strain was the deadly version that has
devastated poultry in Asia.
(AP, 11/10/05)

2005 Nov 11, In Kuwait an
agricultural official said the deadly strain of bird flu has been
detected in a flamingo, the first known outbreak of the virus in the
Gulf region.
(AP, 11/11/05)

2005 Dec 27, In Kuwait 6 men
were convicted and sentenced to death on charges they belonged to a
terrorist group that planned to attack US troops in Kuwait. They
were among 37 Kuwaitis and other nationals accused of joining the
Lions of the Peninsula, a group the prosecution claims was planning
attacks. The defendants were captured after clashing with Kuwaiti
police in January 2005.
(AP, 12/27/05)(AP, 3/9/06)

2005 Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa, a
Columbia-educated Kuwaiti psychologist, began creating a comic book
series called The 99. It was designed to give Muslim kids
superheroes they could identify with as opposed to western icons.
(SFC, 10/13/11,
p.E1)(www.emel.com/article?id=90&a_id=2351)

2006 Jan 20, Kuwait’s PM Sheik
Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah agreed to take charge of Kuwait due to the
poor health of the new emir. The move was perceived as a first step
toward his eventually taking over the top office.
(AP, 1/20/06)

2006 Mar 8, In Kuwait Mishaal
al-Shimmiri, a Muslim fundamentalist convicted in absentia and
sentenced to 10 years in prison for belonging to a terrorist group,
turned himself in to an appeals court hearing a case that stemmed
from clashes with police in Jan 2005.
(AP, 3/9/06)

2006 Mar 8, In Kuwait Mishaal
al-Shimmiri, a Muslim fundamentalist convicted in absentia and
sentenced to 10 years in prison for belonging to a terrorist group,
turned himself in to an appeals court hearing a case that stemmed
from clashes with police in Jan 2005.
(AP, 3/9/06)

2006 Mar, Persian Gulf stock
markets suffered their 1st serious correction after years of 6-7%
annual gains. Stock market reversals in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the
UAR, along with Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia triggered outrage
among local small investors.
(WSJ, 3/27/06, p.C1)

2006 Apr 4, Kuwaiti women voted
and ran as candidates for the first time in a municipal election in
the conservative country's capital, but initial reports indicated
not many women were casting ballots.
(AP, 4/4/06)

2006 Apr 27, The UN panel
overseeing compensation for victims of Iraq's 1990 invasion of
Kuwait said the UN has paid out a $248 million installment to cover
claims for losses and damages.
(AP, 4/27/06)

2006 May 21, Kuwait's ruler
dissolved parliament and called early elections amid a dispute
between the government and lawmakers over electoral reform.
(AP, 5/21/06)
2006 May 21, A Kuwait criminal
court acquitted five former Guantanamo detainees of charges that
they collected money for Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network.
Abdullah Salih al-Ajmi (29), released from Guantanamo in 2005, took
part in a suicide bomb attack in Mosul in April, 2008.
(AP, 5/21/06)(SFC, 5/8/08, p.A8)

2006 Jun 29, Women in Kuwait
voted in parliamentary elections for the first time, a vote that
also inspired surprisingly vocal calls for reform and criticism of
the ruling family. The elections were a victory for political
reformists but a disappointment for female candidates, none of whom
won a seat. The opposition won a big majority.
(AP, 6/29/06)(AP, 6/30/06)(Econ, 7/8/06, p.40)

2006 Jul 31, Every Kuwaiti
citizen will get a $694 gift from the government after parliament
unanimously backed the one-time payout. 2 million foreign workers,
who make up the rest of Kuwait's population of 3 million, do not get
the payment.
(AP, 7/31/06)

2006 Sep 4, Lt. Col. Marshall
Gutierrez (41), whistleblower on food overcharging for the Iraq war,
was found dead in his quarters in Kuwait. A Kuwaiti contractor had
accused Gutierrez of seeking bribes.
(WSJ, 10/20/07, p.A1)

2006 Oct 31, In Kuwait an Iraqi
government spokesman said Iraq needs around $100 billion in the next
four to five years to recover and rebuild its infrastructure at the
opening of an international aid meeting.
(AP, 110/31/06)

2006 Dec 5, Kuwait's highest
court overturned the conviction of Nasser Najr al-Mutairi, a former
Guantanamo Bay prisoner who was returned to the emirate in 2005.
(AFP, 12/5/06)

2006 Dec 10, The oil-rich Arab
states on the Persian Gulf said that they will consider starting a
joint nuclear program for peaceful purposes. The six-nation Gulf
Cooperation Council included Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab
Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
(AP, 12/10/06)

2007 Mar 3, In Kuwait a
criminal court acquitted two former Guantanamo Bay prisoners of
joining al-Qaida or the Taliban.
(AP, 3/3/07)

2007 Mar 4, Officials said
Kuwait's Cabinet has resigned in a widely expected move that
pre-empts a vote of no-confidence in the health minister, who is a
member of the ruling family. Kuwaiti governments have previously
pre-empted votes of no-confidence by resigning and Cabinet
reshuffles. Such moves have even led to dissolving parliament.
(AP, 3/4/07)

2007 Mar 12, In Kuwait a US
military contractor was killed and three others injured in an
accident that may have involved unexploded ordnance at the largest
American military base.
(AP, 3/12/07)

2007 Apr 4, In Kuwait a medical
source said preliminary tests for bird flu were positive on four
Bangladeshi workers who had been culling infected chickens.
(AP, 4/4/07)

2007 May 20, Kuwait broke ranks
with the US dollar and decided to track a basket of currencies. It
was estimated that the dollar still accounted for 70% of the basket.
(Econ, 11/24/07, p.75)(http://tinyurl.com/2wojz3)

2007 May 27, Kuwait's
government announced that it is moving the country's weekend to
Friday and Saturday instead of Thursday and Friday effective Sep 1.
(AP, 5/28/07)

2007 Jun 7, It was reported
that US prosecutors have opened an inquiry into allegations that a
Kuwaiti contractor used foreign workers against their will in
building the US Embassy in Baghdad.
(WSJ, 6/7/07, p.A1)

2007 Oct 4, It was reported
that in Kuwait the nomadic Bedouin, Arabic for "without," numbered
about 100,000 people and have been refused what they feel is their
birthright: citizenship.
(AP, 10/4/07)

2007 Nov 18, In Kuwait a US
soldier was killed and another was seriously injured in a road
accident.
(AP, 11/18/07)

2007 Dec 17, It was reported
that the US was investigation allegations that Public Warehousing
Co. owned by Kuwait’s Sultan Al-Essa family, had solicited as much
as $80 million in kickbacks under cover as discounts from US
suppliers.
(WSJ, 12/17/07, p.A1)

2008 Jan 4, The Zambian
government awarded a 1.2 billion dollar crude oil deal to a Kuwait
firm to supply over 1.4 million tons of oil to the southern African
nation.
(AP, 1/5/08)

2008 Jan 11, President Bush had
tears in his eyes during an hour-long tour of Israel's Holocaust
memorial and told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the US
should have bombed Auschwitz to halt the killing. Bush wrapped up
his 3-day visit to Israel and departed for Kuwait, where he sought
Arab support for the US-backed Mideast peace deal.
(AP, 1/11/08)

2008 Jan 16, The UN Security
Council imposed sanctions on three Kuwaitis who allegedly help
finance al-Qaida operations and recruit fighters for the terrorist
network. The three men, Hamid Al-Ali, Jaber Al-Jalamah and Mubarak
Mushakhas Sanad Al-Bathali, will be added to a list of some 480
individuals and businesses with purported links to al-Qaida and the
Taliban.
(AP, 1/16/08)

2008 Jan 31, US Army Maj. John
Cockerham and his wife pleaded guilty to bribery, conspiracy and
money laundering committed while he was a contracting officer in
Kuwait (2004-2006, during which time he made over $9 million. Maj.
James Momon Jr., his successor, later pleaded guilty to pocketing
over $1 million. Cockerham and his wife were initially indicted on
Aug 22, 2007.
(SSFC, 10/26/08, Par
p.6)(www.usdoj.gov/atr/cases/f225400/225441.htm)

2008 Mar 19, Kuwait’s ruled
dissolved Parliament and set elections for May 17 after a political
standoff delayed reforms.
(WSJ, 3/20/08, p.A1)

2008 Apr 22, Iraqi PM Nouri
al-Maliki, at a meeting in Kuwait, urged neighboring countries to
help dry up "the springs of terrorism" by preventing militants from
obtaining weapons and financing from abroad.
(AP, 4/22/08)

2008 May 13, In Kuwait Sheik
Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah (b.1930), who ruled here for just nine
days in 2006 before being removed for ill health, died.
(AP, 5/13/08)

2008 May 17, Voters in Kuwait
lined up to vote in parliamentary elections that could substantially
change the legislative body of this tiny, oil-rich Gulf emirate
following electoral reforms to reduce corruption and vote buying.
(AP, 5/17/08)

2008 Oct 26, Kuwait's Central
Bank stepped to prop up one of the country's biggest banks and said
it was considering guaranteeing deposits in domestic banks, in one
of the first concrete signs that the global financial crisis may
next hit the oil-rich Gulf.
(AP, 10/26/08)

2008 Oct 29, The UN panel
overseeing compensation for victims of Iraq's 1990 invasion of
Kuwait said it has paid a $888.6 million (709.4 million euros)
installment from Iraqi oil funds to cover losses and damages
suffered by governments and private companies.
(AP, 10/29/08)

2008 Dec 28, Kuwait decided to
scrap a deal to form a $17.4 billion petrochemical joint venture
with US company Dow Chemical.
(Reuters, 12/29/08)

2009 Jan 8, Kuwait’s top
investment bank, Global Investment House, said it had defaulted on
most of its $3 billion in debt, raising concerns that other Arab
Gulf financial firms may follow as the global financial crises
spreads through the region.
(WSJ, 1/9/09, p.C2)

2009 Jan 19, The Arab League’s
22 leaders met in Kuwait City for a 2-day session on infrastructure
projects and ways to deal with the global financial crises.
(SFC, 1/19/09, p.D1)

2009 Jan 20, In Kuwait the
deeply divided Arab League failed to come up with a plan to
reconstruct the devastated Gaza Strip and could not agree on whether
to back Egyptian peace efforts to end the crisis.
(AP, 1/20/09)

2009 Jan 30, Kuwait’s National
Assembly passed a law banning women from working between 8 pm and 7
am except in hospitals. Legislation also limited the workweek to 48
hours and required accommodation for expatriate workers. New
penalties for begging carried a 6-month sentence and a fine of 500
Kuwaiti dinars followed by deportation.
(SSFC, 2/1/09, p.A4)

2009 Mar 18, Kuwait's emir,
Sheikh Sabah al Ahmad al Jaber al Sabah, dissolved the 50-member
parliament, to avert parliamentary questioning of his nephew, the
prime minister. He called for new elections within two months,
saying some lawmakers had abused democracy and become a threat to
stability.
(AP, 3/18/09)(WSJ, 4/9/09, p.A1)

2009 May 16, Kuwaitis voted in
the second parliamentary election in a year. 210 candidates for the
50-seat parliament included 16 women. Kuwaiti women won political
rights in 2005, and practiced them for the third time. Kuwait’s
population of about 3.4 million people included 2.3 million foreign
workers. Kuwaitis elected 4 women and rejected a number of Islamic
fundamentalist candidates. 21 incumbents lost their seats.
(AP, 5/16/09)(AP, 5/17/09)(Econ, 5/23/09, p.50)

2009 Jun 7, Bahrain, Kuwait,
Qatar and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement paving the way for a
monetary union and plans for a unified regional currency.
(SFC, 6/8/09, p.C1)

2009 Jul 26, Hazem al-Braikan
(36), a Kuwaiti businessman linked to Citigroup and charged in the
United States with fraud, was found dead in his bed in Kuwait
City with a gunshot wound to the head and a handgun at his side. The
US SEC charged al-Braikan last week with scheming to make millions
by manipulating the stock of certain US companies.
(AP, 7/26/09)

2009 Aug 11, Kuwaiti
authorities announced they have arrested an al-Qaida-linked group
that was planning to attack Camp Arifjan, a key US military base in
Kuwait. 5 of the suspects are cousins who were convicted for
involvement in the 2002 attack on a group of US Marines training on
the Kuwaiti island of Failaka, where one Marine was killed and
another wounded.
(AP, 8/11/09)(AP, 8/13/09)

2009 Aug 15, In Kuwait a fire
at a wedding tent killed 57 women and children as it consumed the
structure in a blazing inferno lasting just three minutes. The
bridegroom’s ex-wife was later found to be the arsonist. In 2010 a
Kuwaiti appeals court confirmed a death sentence against Nasra
Yussef Mohammed al-Enezi (23). She had been convicted in March of
setting fire to the wedding tent as her husband took a second wife.
(AP, 8/16/09)(AP, 8/18/09)(SFC, 8/18/09,
p.A4)(AFP, 5/26/10)

2009 Oct 20, Kuwait's highest
court granted women the right to obtain a passport without their
husband's approval, in the latest stride for women's rights in this
small oil-rich emirate. The landmark decision "freed" Kuwaiti women
from the 1962 law requiring their husband's signature to obtain a
passport.
(AP, 10/21/09)

2009 Oct 28, Kuwait's highest
court ruled that women lawmakers are not obliged by law to wear the
headscarf, a blow to Muslim fundamentalists who want to fully impose
Islamic Sharia law in this small oil-rich state.
(AP, 10/28/09)

2009 Oct 29, In Kuwait an
American soldier was killed in an accident.
(AP, 10/29/09)

2009 Nov 16, US federal
prosecutors said the Kuwait logistics firm, Public Warehousing co.,
had inflated prices and defrauded the US government under its
multi-billion dollar contract to feed American troops. The contract
was set to expire in December 2010.
(SFC, 11/17/09, p.D2)

2009 Dec 14, Gulf leaders
arrived in Kuwait for a two-day annual summit with the global
recession's impact on their economies, fighting in Yemen and Iran's
nuclear drive high on the agenda.
(AP, 12/14/09)

2009 Dec 15, In Kuwait Gulf
Arab nations put into force a monetary pact, moving a step closer
toward the elusive goal of a single regional currency and greater
integration between the mainly oil-rich states. The announcement was
made by Kuwait's finance minister came as leaders from the
six-member Gulf Cooperation Council nations were wrapping up a
two-day summit in which they launched a regional electricity
project. The GCC groups Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab
Emirates, Oman and Bahrain.
(AP, 12/15/09)

2010 Feb 14, Kuwait's state
news agency said the Kuwaiti telecom group Zain has agreed to
offload its African assets to India's Bharti Airtel, in a deal
valued at $10.7 billion. The next day Bharti confirmed the deal.
(Reuters, 2/14/10)(Econ, 2/20/10, p.61)

2010 Apr 10, Kuwait deported
back to Egypt at least 21 supporters of leading pro-reform Egyptian
activist and former UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei, a
day after arresting them. Some 20 more Egyptians were still being
detained in Kuwait.
(AFP, 4/10/10)(AP, 4/11/10)

2010 Apr 25, Kifah Hassan,
chief executive of Iraqi Airways, had his passport seized and the
plane he arrived on was impounded at Gatwick Airport in a
long-running legal dispute with Kuwait Airways. The dispute dated
back to Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, when,
according to the oil-rich emirate, 10 of its planes and aircraft
parts were plundered after its airport was seized.
(AFP, 4/30/10)

2010 May 1, Kuwaiti media
reported that seven people were arrested in a sweep of a suspected
spy cell.
(AP, 5/6/10)

2010 May 3, Kuwait said that
several suspects are being questioned in connection with a busted
spy cell which a local newspaper said had been working for Iran.
(AFP, 5/3/10)

2010 May 5, Kuwaiti and Saudi
officials said an Iranian espionage group has been dismantled in
Kuwait. The cell was reportedly acting on behalf of Iran's
Revolutionary Guard.
(AP, 5/6/10)

2010 May 10, In Kuwait a
criminal court acquitted eight Kuwaitis allegedly linked to Al-Qaeda
of plotting to attack a key US military base in the emirate.
(AFP, 5/10/10)

2010 May 11, In Kuwait writer
Mohammad Abdulqader al-Jassem (54) was detained on charges of
instigating to overthrow the regime. The next day he began a hunger
strike to protest the accusations. On Dec 15 Kuwait's appeals court
reduced to three months a one-year jail term given to a al-Jassem
for allegedly slandering the prime minister.
(AP, 5/19/10)(http://tinyurl.com/26zlwm3)(AP,
12/15/10)

2010 May 26, Iraq's government
dissolved state-owned Iraqi Airways over a decades-old financial
dispute dating back to Saddam Hussein's invasion of his oil-rich
neighbor Kuwait. A lawyer for Kuwait Airways called the Iraqi
government's strategy a "cynical tactic" and said it will not end
the dispute because Kuwait will still hold the government
accountable for the debt.
(AP, 5/26/10)

2010 Jul 29, The UN released
$650 million in Iraqi compensation to Kuwait, the latest payment of
a war reparation scheme that began in 1994. The payment brings the
total sum of compensation paid to Kuwait to $30.15 billion. A
further $22.3 billion is due to Kuwait.
(AFP, 7/29/10)

2010 Sep 20, Kuwait revoked the
citizenship of cleric Yasser al-Habib, a hard-line Shiite scholar,
accusing him of trying to stir up discord among Muslims by
describing the Prophet Muhammad's wife, Aisha, as an "enemy of God."
(AP, 9/20/10)

2010 Sep 24, In Kuwait US Army
Spc. Marc C. Whisenant (23) of Holly Hill, Fla., died in a military
vehicle roll-over.
(AP, 9/28/10)

2010 Oct 11, The emir of Kuwait
arrived in Algeria for a two-day visit on the latest step of a north
African tour.
(AFP, 10/12/10)

2010 Oct 17, In Kuwait some 100
people stormed the offices of privately owned Scope TV’s studios and
destroyed its equipment after the channel aired shows critical of
the ruling Al Sabah family.
(SFC, 10/19/10, p.A2)

2010 Oct 28, Kuwait's court of
appeals upheld the acquittal of eight nationals, two of them tried
in absentia, of charges of forming an Al-Qaeda cell and plotting
attacks against a US military base. Five of the men were arrested in
August last year while a sixth suspect was already serving a life
sentence for a 2002 attack on the US military in Kuwait that killed
an American soldier. The accused said that purported confessions
presented to the court had been extracted under torture.
(AFP, 10/28/10)

2010 Dec 1, Kuwait began
hosting a two-day conference to try to attract aid and investment to
resource-rich but neglected east Sudan.
(AFP, 11/30/10)

2010 Dec 2, In Kuwait City a
two-day conference on east Sudan ended. Donors and investors pledged
3.55 billion dollars for the development of resource-rich but
neglected area.
(AFP, 12/2/10)

2010 Dec 7, Leaders of six
US-allied Gulf Arab nations, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC),
said they were monitoring with "utmost concern" developments in
Iran's disputed nuclear program and issued a thinly veiled warning
to their Persian neighbor not to meddle in their internal affairs.
The 2-day gathering of leaders from the Emirates, Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman followed the publication of leaked
US diplomatic memos that revealed deeper concern among Gulf Arab
leaders over Tehran's nuclear program than had previously been
known.
(AP, 12/7/10)

2011 Jan 12, Kuwait's PM Sheikh
Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah received a red carpet welcome on
his first visit since Iraq's 1990 invasion of its oil-rich neighbor.
Both sides pledged to redouble efforts to resolve issues from that
conflict.
(AFP, 1/12/11)

2011 Jan 26, Iraq and Kuwait
pledged to work toward resolving border disputes and debt issues as
the two former enemies seek to repair relations damaged by Saddam
Hussein's 1990 invasion of the oil-rich emirate.
(AP, 1/26/11)

2011 Feb 6, Kuwait's embattled
interior minister stepped down amid rising political tensions that
include calls for the first major Gulf street protests inspired by
uprisings in Egypt and elsewhere.
(AP, 2/6/11)

2011 Mar 8, In Kuwait police
barricaded the main Safat Square in Kuwait City before planned
protests for greater political freedoms that could bring another
Gulf state into the surge for reforms around the Arab world.
(AP, 3/8/11)

2011 Mar 27, Bahrain's largest
Shi'ite opposition group Wefaq accepted Kuwait as a mediator with
Bahrain's government to end a political crisis gripping the tiny
kingdom.
(Reuters, 3/27/11)

2011 Mar 28, Bahrain's foreign
minister said it was "completely untrue" that Kuwait would mediate
to resolve the country's political crisis, a reaction leading
opposition group Wefaq said augured badly for any resolution.
(Reuters, 3/28/11)

2011 Mar 29, A Kuwaiti court
condemned to death 3 members of a suspected spy ring. The two
Iranians and a Kuwaiti national were all serving in Kuwait's army
when they arrested in May 2010. Three Iranian diplomats involved in
the spy cell could not b prosecuted because of their diplomatic
immunity.
(AFP, 3/31/11)

2011 Mar 31, Kuwait's Cabinet
resigned over regional turmoil. The resignation appeared to be an
attempt by three Cabinet ministers, members of the ruling Al Sabah
family, to avoid being questioned over why Kuwait did not contribute
troops to the Saudi-led Gulf force that was sent to Bahrain. Kuwait
announced it is to expel a number of Iranian diplomats for alleged
spying.
(AP, 3/31/11)(AFP, 3/31/11)

2011 Apr 24, Kuwait announced a
pledge of "urgent humanitarian aid" to Libyan civilians, through the
Transitional National Council of Libya. The pledge was later said to
be $180 million.
(AFP, 5/7/11)

2011 May 10, The Gulf
Co-operation Council (Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia,
UAE) said it welcomed Jordan’s request to join the 6-member group.
Jordan had first applied for membership in the mid-1980s. The GCC
said it would encourage Morocco to also join.
(Econ, 5/21/11,
p.54)(http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=13586238)

2011 Jun 29, Kuwait's
parliament passed a deficit budget for the 2011-2012 fiscal year
projecting the highest spending in the OPEC member's history. The
price for oil needed to balance the budget was $85-90 a barrel.
(AP, 6/29/11)

2011 Aug 3, In Kuwait a
24-year-old Filipina domestic worker, reportedly blinded by her
employer, sought refuge at the Philippines Embassy after escaping
from her employer last month.
(SSFC, 8/7/11, p.A4)

2011 Aug 9, More than 2,000
Kuwaitis rallied outside the Syrian embassy in the Gulf state
demanding the expulsion of the Syrian envoy and the "freezing" of
relations with Damascus.
(AFP, 8/10/11)

2011 Sep 11, Kuwaiti youth
activists called for major reforms to turn the oil-rich emirate into
a constitutional monarchy, including the appointment of a premier
from outside the Al-Sabah ruling family.
(AFP, 9/11/11)

2011 Sep 26, Kuwaiti telecoms
giant Zain, currently negotiating to sell its operations in Saudi
Arabia, said it will challenge a court ruling that annulled the
election of its board of directors, adding that the verdict will
have no impact on its operations. A lower court a day earlier
scrapped an April election for Zain's board, saying it was legally
flawed.
(AFP, 9/26/11)

2011 Sep 29, Kuwait local media
said the public prosecutor has expanded an unprecedented probe into
the bank accounts of several MPs suspected of receiving illegal
deposits. The public prosecutor launched the probe two weeks ago
after two banks reported large suspicious amounts being deposited
into the bank accounts of a number of MPs. The opposition suggested
the money was related to government efforts to buy the loyalty of
MPs.
(AFP, 9/29/11)

2011 Oct, Kuwait’s opposition
MP Mussallam al-Barrak charged that Sheikh Nasser, a senior member
of the ruling family, transferred around $200 million of public
funds into his overseas accounts through the central bank and the
foreign ministry.
(AFP, 2/28/12)

2011 Nov 13, Kuwait said it has
boosted its oil output to above three million barrels per day. The
oil minister warned that any cut in crude production would send
world prices soaring.
(AFP, 11/13/11)

2011 Nov 14, Kuwait-based
leasing company ALAFCO signed an agreement with Airbus to buy 50
A320neo aircraft, valued at $4.6 billion at list price, the two
sides announced at Dubai Airshow.
(AFP, 11/14/11)

2011 Nov 16, In Kuwait
opposition activists stormed the parliament building as opposition
lawmakers called for the prime minister to be questioned over
accusations that officials transferred state funds to bank accounts
outside the country. On Nov 24 twenty opposition activists were
arrested for the melee.
(SSFC, 11/27/11, p.A10)

2011 Nov 28, Kuwait’s
government resigned following a bitter dispute with opposition MPs.
The move came ahead of a planned mass rally later today by the
opposition to press demands for the ouster of PM Sheikh Nasser
al-Sabah. Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah accepted the resignation but
asked the Cabinet to remain in a caretaker role.
(AP, 11/28/11)(Econ, 12/3/11, p.61)

2011 Dec 16, Kuwaiti riot
police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse hundreds of
stateless protesters, known as bidoon, who were demanding
citizenship and other basic rights. Under Kuwaiti law, only citizens
have the right to hold public gatherings.
(AFP, 12/16/11)(AP, 12/18/11)

2011 Dec 27, Kuwait's public
prosecutor released 32 stateless people on bail after holding them
for nine days for taking part in a protest to demand citizenship.
(AFP, 12/27/11)

2012 Jan 8, Kuwait’s interior
minister said in remarks published that Kuwait will start granting
citizenship to some stateless people by early February.
(AFP, 1/8/12)

2012 Jan 13, In Kuwait riot
police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters,
mostly descendants of desert nomads who are considered stateless and
claim the Gulf nation is depriving them of citizenship and rights.
(AP, 1/13/12)

2012 Jan 21, In Kuwait Sheik
Saud Al Nasser Al Sabah (68) died. He served as Kuwait's ambassador
to the US during Iraq's 1990 invasion of the oil-rich country and
the American-led war to oust Saddam Hussein's forces.
(AP, 1/22/12)

2012 Feb 2, Kuwait held
parliamentary elections. Opposition groups that included hard-line
Islamists took control of parliament, in a rise that could limit the
hands of pro-Western rulers in dealings such as US plans to boost
its military presence in the oil-rich Gulf nation. The conservative
surge left the 50-seat assembly without any women lawmakers. Women
had four seats in the parliament that was dissolved in December.
(AP, 2/3/12)

2012 Feb 5, Kuwait News said
the Gulf nation's emir accepted the resignation of Sheik Jaber Al
Hamad Al Sabah, a former defense chief who was appointed caretaker
prime minister in November amid intense political turmoil that
forced elections.
(AP, 2/5/12)

2012 Feb 14, Kuwait's Emir
Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah named a new cabinet with 10 new
faces, including the oil and defense ministers, and no women,
despite objections from the opposition.
(AFP, 2/14/12)

2012 Feb 29, In Kuwait around
30 opposition MPs filed a request to form a parliamentary panel to
investigate the allegations with powers to interrogate the finance
minister, as well the former premier and central bank governor. The
government used its constitutional right to demand delaying the
formation of the panel for two weeks, saying it wanted to study the
request.
(AFP, 2/29/12)

2012 Mar 1, The opposition
Syrian National Council said it wanted to organize weapons
deliveries to Syrian rebels and was uniting armed factions fighting
against President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Kuwait's parliament
joined the call for arming the rebels, adopting a non-binding
resolution urging the oil-rich Gulf state to supply weapons to the
opposition and to sever diplomatic ties with Damascus.
(AFP, 3/1/12)

2012 Apr 4, Iraq approved a
request from Kuwait's Jazeera Airways to operate services to Baghdad
and Najaf, more than 20 years after direct flights between the
neighbors were halted.
(AFP, 4/5/12)

2012 Apr 17, Hundreds of
Kuwaiti firemen fought to contain a massive fire in a dump for used
tires, with some members of parliament calling the blaze an
environmental catastrophe.
(AFP, 4/17/12)

2012 May 14, In Kuwait an
appeals court upheld a 10-year sentence for tweeter Lawrence
al-Rasheedi, who was found guilty of insulting Emir Al Sabah and
calling for his overthrow.
(SSFC, 5/20/12, p.A4)

2012 May 30, Iraq kicked off a
two-day auction of a dozen energy exploration blocks, but hopes that
the sale would up reserves and boost its role as a key producer were
dampened when just one deal was agreed with a consortium led by a
Kuwaiti energy company.
(AFP, 5/30/12)(AP, 5/30/12)

2012 Jul 8, Kuwait's Zain
telecom said its Iraqi unit has been fined $12,877 a day since
September 1 for failing to list on the Iraqi bourse but will seek to
have the penalty that has reached $4 million scrapped.
(AFP, 7/8/12)

2012 Jul 16, Iraq signed an
initial deal with a Kuwait-led consortium made up of Kuwait Energy,
Dubai-based Dragon Oil and Turkey's TPAO. A contract was awarded to
a Russia-led group to drill for energy, part of Baghdad's efforts to
strengthen its role as a major producer.
(AFP, 7/16/12)

2012 Jul 25, The Pentagon said
it planned to sell 60 Patriot missiles to Kuwait in a deal worth an
estimated $4.2 billion, as the emirate tries to bolster its defenses
against the threat from Iran.
(AFP, 7/25/12)

2012 Aug 25, In eastern Lebanon
armed men kidnapped a Kuwaiti. An official said there had been a
number of kidnappings for ransom which are unrelated to political
tensions.
(AFP, 8/25/12)

2012 Oct 15, In Kuwait More
than 2,000 protesters demanded that Sheik Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah
set a date for parliamentary elections under voting districts that
appear to favor opposition forces, including Islamists.
(AP, 10/15/12)

2012 Oct 23, Kuwait banned
public gatherings of more than 20 people and said police have the
power to disperse unauthorized crowds.
(AP, 10/23/12)

2012 Oct 29, In Kuwait former
lawmaker Musallam al-Barrack was arrested on charges of criticizing
the Gulf nation's ruler during protests.
(AP, 10/30/12)

2012 Nov 30, In Kuwait more
than 15,000 protesters rallied in the first government-authorized
demonstration in Kuwait City since a ban on political gatherings
earlier this month. Banners proclaimed a boycott of parliamentary
elections due Dec 1.
(AP, 11/30/12)

2012 Dec 2, In Kuwait
opposition groups hailed their election boycott as a success after
officials said voter turnout a day earlier was sharply lower than
during the last parliamentary races earlier this year. The results
pointed to a solidly pro-government chamber. Three women were among
the new 50-seat parliament.
(AP, 12/2/12)

2012 Dec 12, Kuwait's ruler
named a new Cabinet that makes no major changes in membership and
reinstates the finance minister who resigned earlier this year under
pressure from opposition lawmakers.
(AP, 12/12/12)

2012 Dec 19, British oil
company BP said it is selling its stake in a South China Sea gas
field to Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company for $308
million in cash.
(AP, 12/19/12)

2013 Jan 7, Kuwait's
pro-government Al Watan newspaper reported that Ayyad al-Harbi, a
journalist at news website Sabr, was charged with posting Twitter
messages considered offensive to the nation's Western-allied emir
and that he was sentenced to two years in prison for the posts.
(AP, 1/7/13)

2013 Jan 30, At a conference in
Kuwait Gulf nations answered UN calls to boost humanitarian aid for
Syria with $900 million in pledges even as more refugees poured into
neighboring Jordan and its leader warned resources were strained to
the limit.
(AP, 1/30/13)

2013 Feb 5, Kuwait said three
former opposition lawmakers have been charged with insulting the
country's ruler in the latest crackdown on perceived political
dissent in the Gulf nation.
(AP, 2/5/13)

2013 Feb 27, An Iraqi plane
landed in Kuwait for the first time since Saddam Hussein's 1990
invasion of the tiny emirate.
(AP, 2/27/13)

2013 Mar 7, Kuwait
government-affiliated newspapers reported that activists Sager
al-Hashash and Naser al-Daihani were sentenced to two years and one
year for Twitter posts offensive to the country's ruler.
(AP, 3/7/13)

2013 Mar 31, In Kuwait a
lower court sentenced online activist Hamed al-Khaledi to two years
in jail for insulting the country's emir.
(AP, 3/31/13)

2013 Apr 15, In Kuwait former
parliament member Mussallam al-Barrack was sentenced to five years
in prison on charges of insulting the emir during a political rally
last year. Last week Kuwait officials began considering a media law
that reports say could bring fines of about $1 million for insulting
the ruling family.
(AP, 4/15/13)

2013 Apr 22, In Kuwait Musallam
al-Barrack, a former parliament member, was granted bail while he
appeals the conviction and a five-year sentence for a speech
considered insulting to the Gulf nation's emir.
(AP, 4/22/13)

2013 Apr 29, A Kuwait appeals
court said online activist Sager al-Hashash must serve a jail
sentence for Twitter posts deemed offensive to the Gulf nation's
ruler, but the prison term was reduced from two years to one.
(AP, 4/29/13)

2013 Jun 10, Kuwait sentenced
Huda al-Ajmi to 11 years in prison after convictions that include
her insulting the nation's ruler and encouraging his overthrow.
(AP, 6/10/13)

2013 Jun 16, Kuwait's
constitutional court forced new parliamentary elections, dissolving
the current chamber on the basis of flaws in the election law.
Kuwait's emir is expected to set a new election day.
(AP, 6/16/13)

2013 Jul 27, Kuwaiti held
parliamentary elections, the third parliamentary election in 17
months. Liberals and candidates from some of the more marginalized
tribes won seats in a parliament which may prove more cooperative
with the ruling family after opposition Islamists and populists
boycotted the election.
(AP, 7/27/13)(Reuters, 7/28/13)

2013 Jul 30, Kuwait's ruler
said he was pardoning all the people convicted of insulting him,
after a year-long crackdown on politically sensitive comments about
Gulf Arab state's leadership.
(Reuters, 7/30/13)

2013 Aug 4, In Kuwait a new
cabinet was sworn in before the emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber
al-Sabah. It included six members of the royal family and one member
of parliament.
(Reuters, 8/4/13)

2013 Oct 2, Kuwait riot
police fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse a march by over
500 demonstrators, mostly descendants of desert nomads, claiming the
state has denied them citizenship and access to the nation’s wealth.
(SFC, 10/3/13, p.A2)

2013 Oct 9, Kuwait newspapers
said a court has sentenced an online activist to two years in prison
for insulting the Gulf nation's ruler, in the first case since a
blanket pardon for similar offenses last summer.
(AP, 10/9/13)

2013 Nov 3, A Kuwaiti newspaper
reported that a Kuwaiti woman was arrested in Saudi Arabia for
trying to drive her father to hospital.
(Reuters, 11/3/13)

2013 Nov 13, Kuwait said it has
discovered its first case of the MERS coronavirus for a citizen who
is in "critical condition." Later in the day Kuwait reported its 2nd
case for a man who just returned from abroad.
(AFP, 11/13/13)(AFP, 11/14/13)

2013 Nov 17, Arab and African
foreign ministers met in Kuwait hoping to accelerate a strategy to
bolster economic cooperation, investment and trade ahead of a summit
this week. The Third Africa Arab Summit on Nov 19-20 will be the
first meeting of its kind since 2010.
(AFP, 11/17/13)

2013 Nov 18, Twitter users in
Kuwait and the UAE received prison terms, in the latest sign of
widening crackdowns in the region on social media for posts
considered offensive or against state security.
(AP, 11/18/13)

2013 Nov 20, In Kuwait Arab and
African leaders wound up their first summit since the region's
uprisings in 2011 by calling for closer economic and security
cooperation.
(AFP, 11/20/13)

2013 Dec 9, A Kuwait court
acquitted 70 people, including nine former lawmakers, of storming
the parliament in 2011 in an unprecedented protest against the then
prime minister, a senior member of the ruling family.
(Reuters, 12/9/13)

2013 Dec 10, In Kuwait leaders
of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) gathered for a
2-day meeting to discuss plans to boost economic integration as well
as defence and security coordination.
(AFP, 12/10/13)

2013 Dec 11, Saudi Arabia and
its Gulf Arab neighbors wrapped up a summit meeting in Kuwait by
agreeing to establish a joint military command, paving the way for
tighter security coordination.
(AP, 12/11/13)

2013 Dec 23, Kuwait's Cabinet
resigned ahead of a reshuffle and plans by some legislators to
submit a number of ministers to parliamentary grilling.
(AP, 12/23/13)

2014 Jan 15, Donors gathered in
Kuwait as the UN sent out a distress signal, warning that nearly
half Syria's population needs urgent humanitarian assistance and
that some 245,000 Syrians faced severe food shortages. Western and
Gulf Arab nations pledged $1.4 billion for UN aid efforts in Syria.
This included $500 million from Kuwait and 380 million from the US.
(AFP, 1/15/14)(Reuters, 1/15/14)

2014 Feb 4, Kuwait said its
coastguard has arrested six suspected Iranian drug smugglers and
seized their boat when it entered the Gulf state's territorial
waters.
(AFP, 2/4/14)

2014 Feb 19, Kuwait’s
loss-making state-owned Kuwait Airways Co signed contracts with
Airbus to buy 25 planes, its first order for new aircraft in more
than 20 years.
(AFP, 2/19/14)

2014 Mar 25, The Arab League
held a summit in Kuwait. UN peace mediator for Syria, Lakhdar
Brahimi, called for an end the flow of arms to the combatants in the
war.
(Reuters, 3/25/14)

2014 Mar 26, In their “Kuwait
Declaration" Arab leaders called for a political solution to the
conflict in Syria, overlooking Saudi-backed demands for greater
military support for rebel forces to tip the balance in the war. The
Arab League also announced their "total rejection of the call to
consider Israel a Jewish state," in the final statement.
(AFP, 3/26/14)

2014 Apr 7, Kuwait agreed to
supply Egypt with 85,000 barrels of oil daily and 1.5 million tons
of fuel for three years as part of a newly agreed commercial deal.
The supplies would be valued at market prices and delivered by the
end of 2016.
(AFP, 4/8/14)

2014 Apr 9, Kuwait said three
of its citizens have been kidnapped in Syria and it has asked Turkey
for help in trying to secure their release. Kidnappers asked for a
ransom of 1 million euros ($1.38 million).
(Reuters, 4/10/14)

2014 Apr 10, Kuwait imposed a
news blackout on an investigation into reports of a recording that
implicates unnamed people in an alleged plot to overthrow the Gulf
state's ruling system.
(Reuters, 4/11/14)

2014 Apr 12, Kuwait's
opposition called for broad democratic reforms including a
Western-style party system to limit the powers of the emirate's
ruling family.
(AFP, 4/12/14)

2014 Apr 24, A UN panel that
settles claims for damages resulting from Iraq's 1990 invasion of
Kuwait paid out another $990 million. The Geneva-based commission
was established by the UN Security Council in 1991 and is funded by
a 5 percent tax on the export of Iraqi oil. It makes payments every
three months.
(AP, 4/24/14)

2014 May 12, Nayef al-Ajmi,
Kuwait's justice and Islamic affairs minister, said the Gulf state's
ruler has accepted his resignation. In March US Treasury
Undersecretary David Cohen said al-Ajmi had called for jihad in
Syria and promoted the funding of terrorism.
(Reuters, 5/12/14)

2014 May 20, Kuwait set June 26
as the day for by-elections to replace five lawmakers who resigned
in protest after the largely pro-government parliament refused to
question PM Sheik Jaber Mubarak Al Sabah over corruption
allegations.
(AP, 5/20/14)

2014 Jun 1, Kuwait's emir began
a visit to Iran, the first by a ruler of the US-allied Gulf Arab
state since the 1979 Islamic revolution, underscoring improving ties
between Tehran and its Arab neighbors.
(Reuters, 6/1/14)

2014 Jun 9, In Kuwait Al Watan
reported online that a judge ordered its print edition and that of
Alam Al Yawm newspaper to stop publishing for five days because they
had violated a prosecutor-ordered media blackout about a secret
probe into allegations of a coup plot to overthrow the Gulf
monarchy's government.
(AP, 6/10/14)

2014 Jun 10, In Kuwait
opposition leader Musallam al-Barrack revealed documents of alleged
corruption to more than 6,000 protesters late today. His opposition
group had called for the anti-corruption rally, the first protest by
the opposition since April 2013.
(AP, 6/11/14)

2014 Jun 11, Kuwait's PM Jaber
Al-Mubarak hit back at allegations of corruption, a day after
leading opposition figure Musallam al-Barrack revealed documents he
says prove billions of dollars in illicit transfers were made to
senior officials, including judges.
(AP, 6/11/14)

2014 Jul 3, Kuwait police used
tear gas and stun grenades to disperse protesters gathered in front
of a jail to demand the release of Musallam al-Barrack, a former
opposition lawmaker. He was detained a day earlier as part of an
investigation into allegations of insulting the country's judiciary.
(AP, 7/3/14)

2014 Aug 15, The UN Security
Council unanimously adopted a resolution intended to weaken the
Islamic State - an al Qaeda splinter group that has seized swaths of
territory in Iraq and Syria and declared a caliphate - and al
Qaeda's Syrian wing, Nusra Front. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait the next
day agreed to comply with the resolution after four of their
nationals were named among a group blacklisted by the international
body.
(Reuters, 8/17/14)

2014 Aug 20, Kuwait detained
Hajjaj al-Ajmi, a prominent Sunni Muslim cleric, at the Gulf state's
airport after the US included him on a sanctions list on suspicion
that he is funneling money to militants in Iraq and Syria.
(Reuters, 8/20/14)

2014 Aug 22, The US imposed
sanctions on Abdul Mohsen Abdallah Ibrahim al Sharekh, a Saudi
citizen and allegedly the head of Al-Qaeda operations in Syria, and
Hamid Hamad Hamid al-Ali of Kuwait.
(AFP, 8/22/14)

2014 Oct 12, In Cairo, Egypt,
US Sec. of State John Kerry presided over a conference on peace in
the Middle East and announced an additional $212 million in US aid
to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Qatar said it would provide $1
billion in reconstruction assistance for Gaza, while fellow Gulf
Arab states Kuwait and United Arab Emirates promised $200 million
each. Germany also announced it would contribute 50 million euros
($63 million) to reconstruction efforts in Gaza.
(Reuters, 10/12/14)

2014 Oct 22, A court in Kuwait
convicted and sentenced 13 people to two years in prison each for
reading aloud a speech in 2012 by Musallam al-Barrack, a leading
opposition figure, challenging the country's ruler.
(AP, 10/22/14)

2014 Nov 5, Fawzi al-Odah (37),
a citizen of Kuwait held at the US detention center at Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba, for nearly 13 years, was sent back to his homeland. This
left the detention center population at 148.
(AP, 11/5/14)